Alabama GOP plans Monday forum

3/7/12 3:15 PM EST

The Alabama Republican Party is planning to host a televised event showcasing the GOP presidential field on the eve of next week's primary, a top state GOP official tells me.

Both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have committed to appear at an evening forum, Alabama GOP executive director T.J. Maloney said. The event is not a debate — the plan isn't to grill the candidates or to force them to engage each other. But it promises to give plenty of free-media coverage to the participants.

"This is an opportunity for the candidates who are attending to give their campaign pitch, their spiel, in front of a live Alabama audience," Maloney said. "We believe it will be covered on just about every TV camera in the state."

The Romney campaign has yet to confirm whether it is participating, Maloney said, and "Congressman Paul has not responded to any of our communications."

Both Alabama and Mississippi are voting on March 13, with a combined 90 delegates at stake between them. Those delegates will be handed out proportionally, so there's an incentive for the whole 2012 field to compete, even if the two states are expected to favor the more conservative hopefuls.